A Summer of Dreams: Preparing for the 2026 AUSL Season

With the launch of the Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) in the summer of 2026, it’s no secret that women’s baseball is on the rise. We’re excited to watch the WPBL pan out, and are even more excited to see our favorite players showing us that women’s baseball is possible. And though the WPBL is a step in the right direction for women’s baseball, it isn’t the only league that’s hitting homers in women’s sports. 

Enter: the Athlete’s Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). Established in 2024, the AUSL is a first-of-its-kind softball league where young girls and college players alike can dream of playing their sport professionally. In its inaugural season in 2025, its success showed that we care about women’s sports and that, if we put in the work, opportunity will be there. 

Athletes on each of the 6 teams in the AUSL. Courtesy of sportsbusinessjournal.com

First Steps 

The AUSL was announced in 2024, but its first season was last summer. It was similar to what the WPBL is doing this year: they had official teams in cities, such as the Chicago Bandits or Utah Talons, but the league was primarily based in 6 different host cities throughout the summer, such as Washington and Utah. 

Home field advantage seemed to work in the Utah Talon’s favour – they came away with the first official championship title in 2025, beating the Chicago Bandits in two games in a best-of-three series. The Trachelalons were the top seed heading into the championships, and though they were the first winners of the AUSL, their domination showed they want to be in the same position in the upcoming season. 

The popularity of the AUSL after its first season even prompted them to do an expansion draft after their first season. Similar to what we’ve seen with the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), the AUSL had four inaugural teams last year, and in the fall, they went on to add the Portland Cascade and Oklahoma City Spark. Expanding so quickly after the league was announced was a nod to the viability and proves that with the right resources, women’s softball can be beyond successful. 

Chicago Bandit's Morgan Zerkle taking an at-bat. Courtesy of mlb.com

Notable Names

Major League Baseball saw the impact that the AUSL had after one season, and in 2025, they announced their partnership with the league. This was to ensure it could stay viable and evolve into a permanent professional league while it was still getting started, and MLB’s partnership with the AUSL not only increased its popularity but also allowed bigger sponsorships and broadcasters, such as ESPN, to anchor the league. 

But the MLB had other links to the AUSL, too. The commissioner for the AUSL, Kim Ng, was previously the General Manager for the Miami Marlins and was subsequently the first woman to hold such a substantial front office role for any MLB team. We’ve seen it with the popularity of the WPBL, too: people care about women in sports, and Kim Ng’s success in baseball and softball has truly shown us that the sky is the limit. 

However, Ng isn’t the only exciting name in the upcoming AUSL season. Many of the league’s players, both returning and new draft picks, are well-known names in college softball and are women you should be excited about. Rachel Garcia is one such name: an Olympian and former college player at UCLA, Garcia has been dubbed one of the most influential NCAA softball players, and has left her impact both at UCLA and on the world. She won a silver medal with Team USA Softball in Tokyo in 2021, and has been named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year twice. 

Kim Ng at a Mimi Marlins game in October 2023. Courtesy of cnn.com

What Will 2026 Bring? 

That’s hard to say. But with the expansion teams starting play and the league officially becoming city-based, we are bound for an exciting 2026 AUSL season. Home-field advantages, new rivalries, and exciting players are bound to make this season all the more interesting. We simply cannot wait to see what it has in store!

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to support and watch the WPBL! The start of these two leagues shows that women’s baseball and softball are viable and here to stay, and we’re beyond excited to see women playing on the field this summer. They’re truly playing on a ‘field of dreams’ because they’ve worked their entire careers to have opportunities like this, and we are so grateful that we’re able to watch and support them. 

Edited by Olivia Feldgus